Writing about these lenses reminded me of an announced piece of EF glass that I have really looking forward to getting my hands on.

A year ago this month – Canon announced that it was developing an L-series 200 – 400mm lens. The lens was going to keep with the tradition of L series lenses being fast for their focal length, and open to an f/4 through the full range. Pretty impressive, but what’s cooler is that it was also going to have a built-in 1.4x extender – a first of it’s kind for EF glass. This would effectively increase the focal length of 280 – 560mm. I do remember a meeting a Canon HQ with Canon lens engineers from Japan almost 6 years ago where I specifically asked them to put a converter INSIDE the lens (like all big TV Zoom lenses have) and wonder if I had anything to do with this ultimate decision in the end…?

So obviously this lens will be great for Sports and Wildlife photographers, but it could also be a pretty incredible lens for video – since hardly any Cine Zooms reach those telephoto specs (Canon’s own cine zoom goes to 300mm). This lens might be extremely popular also considering that EF glass is becoming more and more common for shooting professional grade video – not just with the C300, but also with the RED Scarlet and EPIC having their own electronic EF mount. At the time of its announcement, the lens was scheduled to be released in 2011 – but was reportedly delayed late last year due to the earthquake in Japan and floods in Thailand.

For now – check out the new Lenses section on the gear page if you’re curious to see my thoughts on what lenses you should buy for your HDSLR/Still productions.

Full disclosure: I’m an indie producer based in Toronto. And I need lens help. I’ve ran into you briefly in various exhibition venues and can’t think of a better person to ask these questions (it used to be easier before you got so damn famous!) .

Ok – after talking to you wish years ago I bought a set of Canon lenses that made sense on the 5D mk II because they were unique: 24(ts), 50L, 100L, 135L. Couldn’t have been happier with the results, although the workflow was a nightmare. Now with the c300, that set of lenses doesn’t work quite as well as before. Everything’s a little off. Tried a CPS version of the 16-35 and it was a bit too loose for documentary shoots, I fear & the 17-55 is a bit of a bust for video. So…

2 questions:

1. Did you have any problems with the 16-35 on your shoot with the c300? (noticed you hugging it in the behind the scenes).

2. I know it’s obscure but a brief glance at dxomark’s lens ratings got me thinking about Samyang. For the price of an L-series lens or a Zeiss CP I can purchase Samyang’s 8mm, 14mm, 35mm, 85mm & 500mm. Ok, the 8mm and 500mm lenses are gimmicky, but 8mm and 500mm shots are gimmicky! Have you ever used Samyang? Is it just the producer in my that thinks these Korean lenses are overlooked for the same reasons that Hyundai cars are overlooked (despite topping Consumer Reports ratings). Is it lens snobbery? These things seem to be (in some cases) better and (in all cases) cheaper. I just read that they are de-clicking them for video going forward and (apparently) upping the price as the new 24mm 1.4 is $700 – twice as much as the others. I think I’ll buy ‘em and arrive at a verdict. But it’s worth noting that primes exist at 1/10th the price of compact primes. Still – any horror Samyang/Rokinon/Bower stories?

1. We only used the 16-35 for aerials- i.e. no need for focus pulling on dramatic performances… You will in general find yourself more comfortable w/ Zeiss ZE / Nikkor / or of course Zeiss CP.2 and cine lenses for “narrative use.” The mechanical nature of the lenses is hard to ignore – as is the cine build and clear distance marking with 300 degree rotation on the cine lenses… there’s simply no comparison. NOW: on Mobius we had a 3 day shoot and 50 shots a day. THERE WAS LITTLE ROOM FOR ERROR let alone focus issues… so Cine lenses were CRITICAL. HOWEVER: if your are working on smaller (see: cheaper) productions- you CAN AFFORD MORE TAKES! AND TIME! So not everyone needs to have the luxury of cine lenses. The older manual lenses are simply easier to handle on a physical level – they also don’t “slip.” The Canon EF glass uses magnets to connect the focus ring to the internal movement of elements – so marks can and will move during normal use – and of course is you pass infinity or Macro… Your 24mm and 50 and 100mm should server you very well w/ the C300. The 135mm may be a bit of an odd duck…

2. I have not had a chance to use the Samyang. My honest guess is (and this is an uneducated one) you probably won’t notice the optical difference on a 5DMKII/5DMKIII highly compressed video between most optics unless you are looking to go to a large (theater/cinema) screen. In other words – on Vimeo and the web it’s going to be hard to tell. However – when you use different lenses on high quality cameras w/ great sensors such as the C300 and Red EPIC – you will see a noticeable difference in optical performance….

3. How often do you shoot wide open? I seldom shoot the 24mm 1.4 or 50mm 1.2 wide open… I’m almost always between f/2.8 – f5.6 for drama/cinema – and it’s hard to tell the difference between many optics at that aperture… you are really paying for the performance when the lens is wide open.

4. Lastly – try to RENT/BORROW these lenses first before making any significant investment whenever possible. It’s obviously more difficult to do w/ still lenses (but possible – see borrowedlenses.com) but it’s commonplace if not expected that you would rent cine lenses for productions (as opposed to buying them.)

Thx for the response! Bought the Samyang 14mm. It’s sharp but with a very noticeable ‘mustache’ distortion (apparently with time/processing power you can fix this in Photoshop Extended). Compared to the 14L, it is – as dxomark predicted – sharper (!) but more distorted. Beautiful on a steadicam w/c300. Oh & for doc stuff in the field & I try to have at least one camera at f2 or lower for interviews – otherwise I would just use broadcast HD cameras (ugh). & I will rent a Zeiss CP 35mm. Thx for the tip. Hope to see a new Laforet film @ NAB!